Dan Pena - The Trillion Dollar Man | Getting Rich is Easy
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How did Dan Pena turn a $60 K option into a $450 M empire in just 99 days?
Five or six years ago, they got the biggest computers that were, you know, around at the time to play the four top uh chess masters in a five day chess tournament and the human beings won. And Bill Gates asked uh the computer, is there anything you'd like to say in closing? And the computer unprofit said, Don't trust us.
Dan Peña doesn't believe in comfort. He believes in pressure. From growing up with nothing to building and advising companies worth billions, Dan earned a reputation as the most feared and respected mentor in high-performance entrepreneurship.
I bought a company quite by accident, Christmas Eve, less money that was in the bank account. I went to look at the assets in England, and so I found four million acres non-producing oil reserves. So I bought a six-month option for sixty grand, and I said, I'll be back.
Direct, brutally honest, zero tolerance for excuses. Dan doesn't motivate, he confronts, he strips away fear, entitlement, and self-doubt until all that's left is execution.
When I started all this, I didn't give a fuck about anybody. I'm on board pull up the gang clang. All I wanted to do is sh shove money as much as I could in my pockets. I didn't give a shit about anybody else. The last fifteen or twenty years, I've realized I've created twenty-five million jobs. I didn't start this thinking that I was gonna help humanity. Everybody talks about change, but nobody wants to change themselves. It's easier to stay focused. Not easy, but it's easier if you're passionate about it.
Then you turned a sixty thousand dollar option into a four hundred and fifty million dollar company in ninety nine days. So walk me through how that happened.
There was nothing serendipity about it. Um w when I I went uh I bought a company quite by accident, uh Christmas Eve, uh for uh less money that was in the bank account. Uh for one of the billionaire guys I used to uh run with or hang out, as you would say now. And uh I went to look at the assets in England. It was uh and so on my board that I inherited was the father of the North Sea, a guy named Robert Dyke, who founded the North Sea at Argyll, and some very distinguished guys. And so I said, Well shit, uh the the UK had just been saved from bankruptcy by the oil taxation in the North Sea, so I gotta find something to go public. So I ran back to the United States first of all I put it to the team together, one layer better than the current teams that were taking secondary and tertiary companies public.
I went back to the United States and I looked for assets. And so I found uh three and a half, almost four million acres of un uh produ non producing oil reserves in the Denver Julesburg uh basin in Wyoming. And I had sixty grand left in the bank. So I I went to the guy. Now he has been selling options on this property for decades. He collects the option money and they never come back. So I bought a six-month option for 60 grand and I said, I'll be back. And he said, Yeah, and this is before Schwarzenegger was saying that I'll be back. And he said, Yeah, sure you will, kid. So I went uh we zoomed back to the United States and I uh told my team, how do I monetize this? And so they uh there was a genius kid who's now gone dead, uh a guy named Jeremy Knight, and he said, Um, You have an option.
Well I don't believe An option's ever been taken public. Well we'll check with the Bank of England. So he went and checked and he came back a day or two later and he said an option never been taken public, but we're not sure that the yellow book, which was the rules of the stock exchange at that time, will allow it. Well, why can't we be the first? And it's gonna cost legal this, that, and then I said, Well I'll get do it on a delayed fee basis. Okay. And so we got the the lawyers that at that time were Freshfields. And the Freshfields were the leading law firm in uh Europe and they used to say, We represent the Bank of England, the Church of England, the Queen of England, and Dan Pena. Okay. Uh and so uh we got it through uh the the um Bank of England, but at that meeting, that crucial meeting on Friday afternoon about two or two thirty, they said, Mr.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Dan Pena turn a $60 K option into a $450 M empire in just 99 days?
0:00–13:11
2
Why does Dan Pena say modern generations avoid hard work?
13:11–24:19
3
What is Dan Pena’s view on why religion is fading in the West?
24:19–37:14
4
Why do most people never figure out money, according to Dan Pena?
37:14–48:58
5
How can you adapt fast or risk being left behind?
48:58–1:00:01
6
What are the biggest mistakes people make in life?
1:00:01–1:12:01
7
Is work‑life balance a myth for high‑performers?
1:12:01–1:23:10
8
What raw advice does Dan Pena give to young entrepreneurs?
1:23:10–1:38:49
Speakers
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